Next Article
How the new gaming law impacted UPI payments
UPI payments for digital gaming dropped sharply in August 2025, right after India's new law banning real-money online gaming kicked in.
Spending fell by 26%—from ₹10,076.5 crore in July to ₹7,441.1 crore—and the number of transactions tumbled from 351.2 million to 270.7 million.
The law's impact on UPI transactions
The sudden drop forced some gaming companies to shut down or rethink their business.
Dream Sports's CEO Harsh Jain described the ban as a "knockout punch" that wiped out 95% of revenue overnight.
Still, other UPI payment categories like groceries and debt collection held steady, and total UPI transactions (including person-to-person) stayed high at nearly ₹25 lakh crore—showing the platform's staying power even as gaming took a hit.